Saturday, March 17, 2012

He stayed until a new bottle was opened, when we went to bed at 12 midnight, and when the power went off and the mosquitoes invaded.

He joined our Bating Tournament when we decided to kill the last 3 hours before 5 am.

And through it all, he talked: of the things gone by in the Kingdom of Pee, of secrets untold and moments retold a hundred times, of the betting rules of Bating and places as far as Tuguegarao.

He got down at Pili but his voice stayed and resonated as we hunted for an open kinalas shop, ogled the Naga Cathedral for some photos, and brought packets of pili nuts for those back home, before finally vanishing as we pampered bodies bruised by 3 days of chasing road (paved, unpaved, under repair) in the courtyard of Pagbilao's ancient church...

PHOTOS EXPLAINED (top to bottom): [1] Kinalas is a noodle dish is similar to the everyday mami except for a topping of what looked like a Pansit Palabok sauce, and the meaty dark soup made from boiling a cow or a pig’s head until the flesh fell off. Hence, the name kinalas. [2] Naga City's Cathedral of San Juan Evangelista was first built in 1595 when the Diocese of Nueva Caceres was established. The present structure is the third church and was built by 1843, and repaired in 1862 and 1890. It just underwent a general restoration work. [3] Only the bell tower remained of the Pagbilao church's original structure --- the third of such that was started to be constructed in 1845. Most of the church was destroyed during the war for the liberation of the Philippines in 1945.

Friday, March 16, 2012

With Aussie couple Zach and Jill plus colleagues from the Kingdom of Pee did a round trip from Baao to Tiwi and back to lick that glass of DJC Halo-halo clean while Eboy breaks bread with the fishers of Lagonoy Bay as Mayon shyly peeled away its cirrus robe.

And yes I did update my take on Malinao's church before Tiwi and Tiwi church before the halo-halo and finally got replaced those pre-DSLR photos as we detoured to the lost city of Ligao and and the governor's hometown of Polangui where it was said that men become priests and the women into whores..